Treasure of Light (The Light Trilogy) Read Online Free Page A

trying to be brave. Cole patted Mikael’s hair and went to the door, turning on the light panel over the table before hitting the entry patch. The door slipped open and Iona stood in the hall. He was a medium-sized man with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair and a bulbous nose; the gold braid on his shoulder epaulets glistened in the dim white light.
    “Come in, Doctor. Mikael’s calm and ready for you.”
    Iona entered, glancing surreptitiously at Mikael before putting his bag on the table and rifling through it. “I’m glad to hear it, sir, given the insanity running rampant across the rest of the ship.”
    Tahn grimaced in understanding. He had a few final arrangements to make with the High Councilman on Horeb who was “selling” Baruch to the Magistrates, but it looked like they’d finally ended the Underground leader’s reign of terror. The crew was going wild with joy. In the off-duty lounges champagne flowed like a river. Only a year ago, Tahn would have been in one of those lounges, celebrating with his crew, exulting in that triumphant flush of victory.
    But he no longer knew what he was fighting for. He glanced back at Mikael. The child sat hunched on his bed, his brown eyes as wide and hate-filled as an innocent prisoner facing his executioner.
    Once again, all the old doubts consumed Tahn, gnawing at his insides. He started pacing. When he passed the mirror over the table, he caught his reflection and stopped. He looked as frantic as a man caught in a cross fire, not knowing which way to turn. Disturbed, he dropped his gaze to the floor. In the circle of light thrown by the table lustreglobe, he saw, for the first time, the tiny piles of lint scattered across the carpet, beside the table legs, beneath the chairs, humped like anthills against the walls. He frowned, wondering what they were. They had no toys aboard. Had Mikael created his own game?
    He turned halfway around, pointing to the lint. “What’re these, Mikael?”
    The boy blinked owlishly. “They’re mountains.”
    “What happens in those mountains?”
    Mikael licked his lips anxiously, like he didn’t want to tell him. Then, in a suddenly violent voice, he blurted, “People kill each other!”
    Tahn clamped his jaw tightly. Undoubtedly the boy’s game centered around killing Magisterial soldiers, taking revenge for the destruction of his world. In a kind voice, he asked, “Did you win?”
    “My side always wins.”
    “Good. Sometime, if you want someone to play with, I’ll fight on your side.”
    Iona turned around and Tahn saw Mikael blanch. The boy pushed jet black curls out of his eyes and twisted his fingers in his lap, watching the doctor fill a syringe with sedative. The breathless look on Mikael’s face made Tahn queasy.
    “For God’s sake, Iona. He’s only seven. Do you need so much?”
    The doctor straightened indignantly. “I thought you said you wanted him out for the next twelve hours, Captain? Was I mistaken?”
    “Does it take that much?”
    “This dosage is adequate to keep him out for twenty. I think he needs the rest and that should give us enough time to complete our Horeb mission and be far away before—”
    “That’s enough, Doctor.” The words cut as sharply as glass, and Tahn knew it, but anger and futility taunted too powerfully just now for him to be civil. The last thing in the world he wanted was Mikael to know that he was going to kill another Gamant planet.
    “Forgive me, sir. I didn’t realize—”
    “Forget it.”
    Guilt swelled in Tahn’s breast. He’d been treating his crew like strangers for the past week. So much so that they seemed to tiptoe around him. He couldn’t help it. He felt trapped, on the verge of reckless actions. His mind had gone round and round the circle of possible alternatives and the only way he could see of resolving his inner conflicts was to resign his commission.
    At the thought, a cold wave of fear splashed him. The Galactic Magistrates would erase all the